The giant marsh reed papyrus (Cyperus
papyrus) was used to make paper all throughout the Pharaonic history
and is still attested in the early Islamic Period. The earliest example
of a papyrus roll was found in the First Dynasty tomb of Hemaka (Saqqara,
Emery 1938: 41). The
latest is so far datable 1087 AD (Arabic document, Pattie/Turner
1974: 7). However, production had already declined in the seventh
and eighth centuries AD, when animal skins (parchment) and cloth-based
paper became common. Papyrus was one of the main export articles of
Egypt.